We received word and the
usual emails with obituaries when it was learned that Keene, NH native, Art
Cody had passed away. Of course, this meant we had lost another of our
treasured racing heroes from the earlier years of the sport. The obit
contained this sentence: “As
time went on he found himself singing karaoke and stock car racing in
Claremont, Fairhaven and Keene. For his racing passion he has been listed as
one of New Hampshire’s stock car legends.” It’s a nice tribute, but
it doesn’t give the casual reader much of an idea how good Art was, in his
day.

Cavalcade of Auto Racing Photo Ladabouche CollectionThis is what I
think of when I recall Art Cody – a pleasant, red --headed guy with a
well – used – looking yellow Ford coupe.

Cody, unlike contemporary New
Hampshire rivals like Ted Brown, Buddy Bardwell, and Sonny Rabideau, did not
push his career much beyond the early 1960’s. Driving primarily in a yellow
1932 Ford coupe owned by Henry Merrill, Cody confined most of his racing to
the southern New Hampshire area and to southern Vermont – particularly Fair
Haven.

The first time I encountered
Cody was around 1958. My area of Vermont had not enjoyed racing in over six
years when a big championship race was advertised by the Malletts Bay
Raceway, in the northern Vermont community of Colchester. The track, either
named as mentioned or perhaps – by that time – was going by the name of
Colchester – Bayview Speedway – was banking on attracting competitors from
southern Vermont and New Hampshire, eastern New York, as well as northern
Vermont and New Hampshire, as well.

Bob Mackey Photo Courtesy of Mike Watts,
Sr.The race track at
Malletts Bay, probably being paved by 1958, may not have been the
ideal racing surface for Cody, who was used to the sandy surface of
Claremont.

As my uncle and I rode up US
Route 7 towards the Chittenden County track, we were followed by a car stiff
– hitching a small yellow #33 stock car. I first surmised this must have
been one of the former Pico Raceway cars we had seen back in 1952. I never
knew until four years later that this was Cody and Merrill, joining a few
other New Hampshire flathead teams in challenging the northern teams which
included several overhead V-8 sportsman – type cars.

Cody apparently did not do
anything spectacular that Sunday afternoon. I vaguely recall a car with a
number like 100 or X100 running away fro the field so badly that is was
almost as if it was an entirely higher form of race car. I would not see
Cody again until one instance at the bucolic Otter Creek Speedway, in 1961.
Cody was to become a consistent and effective performer in 1962 when the
opening of C.J. Richards’ Fairmont Speedway attracted a number of Claremont
Speedway teams [which, by the way, dominated the track in its early years].

Courtesy of Cho LeeThe Merrill 33, in a
1954 lineup at Safford Park, the Cheshire County Fairgrounds,
under the guidance of George Schnyer, Sr.

The little yellow coupe that
Cody drove to multiple victories and championships actually predates Art,
himself. It began at the Cheshire Fairgrounds near Keene, being driven by
George Schnyer, a hulking 1950’s era driver. Schnyer won a number of titles
in the 1950’s – particularly at Cheshire, but it unclear how many [if any]
were with that particular coupe. The 33, like its New York counterpart, the
# 6PACK Hudson out of Athol, NY, had only two drivers. Like the Vern Baker –
owned 6PACK, whose only drivers were the legendary Glens Falls native Wally
LaBelle and then the Athol, NY star, Ed Baker – the 33 had only the
successful Schnyer and then the hall of fame caliber Cody as pilots. And, in
both cases, the exact same car survived for nearly two decades and kept the
same owners.

Courtesy of
the Bob Hackel FamilyWally LaBelle
lines up the 6PACK at Warrensburgh, NY’s Ashland Park Speedway in the mid
1950’s. Below – Same car, with owner Vern Baker nearby. This was the early
‘60’s and Ed Baker was now the driver.Ladabouche Photo

Even in that first year at
Fairmont, the Cody 33 was one of the leading entries at the track, along
with fellow Granite Staters Buddy Bardwell, Ted Brown, Cecil Bosworth [Mass.
Driver with NH car owner] and Sonny Rabideau [a Brattleboro man with a NH
car owner]. With the passing of C.J. Richards, little is known about where
any records of point standings from those early years have gone; it is a
certainty that Cody and Merrill were among the leaders in points for each of
the first three years of Richards’ promotions. Qualifying heats were always
run according to handicap, and Cody was always placed in the third, or high
handicap, heat.

Ladabouche PhotoThis photo of a 1962
Fairmont high handicap heat serves two purposes. 1.) it shows Cody
[foreground] in his accustomed heat. 2.) The fabled 6 PACK of Ed Baker sits
outside the 33 of Cody. Red Smith’s 33and1/3 is in front of Cody and the balck
and white #7 sedan of Joe Spellburg is in front of Baker. Bardwell is behind
Cody, to the far left.

During the 1962 and 1963
seasons, Richards also had a hand in running the Otter Creek Speedway, near
Vergennes, VT. Most of the Fairmont regulars frequented that long, bumpy,
dusty pasture track to get some extra money. I do not believe they were
required to run there for CVRA points. Art Cody always ran very consistently
at Otter Creek, picking up a few wins along the way. He had even appeared
there at least once or twice in the track’s inaugural year of 1961, as he was
mentioned on the 1962 track program as a competitor from the previous year.

Ladabouche PhotoIn the fading light of
a Vermont Fall afternoon, Cody pauses before returning to the Otter Creek pits
to start or resume a race. At that track, to have welding done, a competitor
had to drive up the hill from the pits, into the spectator area, to Hi
Monroe’s construction barn. Russ Shaw, soon to be a driver himself, is in the
white sweatshirt.

By 1965, as Richards and
Fairmont were getting into the overhead valve sportsman revolution, the
flathead – powered New Hampshire cars began to fade away, concentrating mainly
on the Claremont track. Many of the once – dominant New Hampshire teams would
occasionally re-appear in Vermont – at the last hurrah of Fairmont and at the
new Devil’s Bowl facility; but, most of them had converted to overheads
[either in sportsman cars or in their old flathead cars]. Rabideau hung on the
longest with a flathead, still able to battle the overheads often before
blowing up; Bardwell was using a six cylinder Hudson to compete.

Norman McIver Portrait Courtesy of Cho LeeMike Cody raced
enough in the north to rate a portrait photo by Norman McIver.
Below – A car Mike once ran at Fairmont, against his brother.Ladabouche Photo

While Rabideau, Ted Brown, Walt
Brown, Howard Stevens, and Bosworth all went overheads, and while Bardwell
concentrated on a huge Hudson six banger, Art Cody just hung in with the the
old flathead coupe, eventually choosing to disappear altogether. His brother,
Mike had run somewhat extensively at the paved Thunder Road International
Speedbowl, started by Ken Squier in Barre, VT; but Art soon was not heard from
any more.

For the longest time, little
was known of the whereabouts of the little yellow coupe. The Arthur Codys made
brief news coverage when they won some sort of Megabucks – type lottery,
fixing them for life. Eventually, the Merrill 33 was recovered and restored –
pretty much as it had always looked. Art added Coke bottle decals on the car,
although he did not have that sponsorship when he ran in Vermont. News of
Art’s passing spread quietly among those of us who remembered and enjoyed
seeing him race; as more and more of his kind are lost to us, the nature of
early stockcar racing will be harder and harder to preserve.

Please email me at
wladabou@comcast.net if you have any photos to lend me or information and
corrections I could benefit from. Please do not submit anything you are not
willing to allow me to use on my website - and thanks. For those who still don’t
like computers - my regular address is: Bill Ladabouche, 23 York Street,
Swanton, Vermont 05488.